Sim City

Just read in the UK edition of PC Gamer that Sim City (due for release in March) needs a continual online connection. A disconnect allows a paltry few minutes play before the game quits. Maxis are lauding it as a 'feature' but it's looking more like the harshest DRM yet. I'm bummed - I live in a rural area with crap internet. Looks like I might have to cancel my expensive pre-order.

I'm sure I read something a while back saying that due to the fact that neighbouring cities to yours are now operated by human controllers, you need to be "always on" to play the game. So this sounds about right.

teamHAM wrote:
I'm sure I read something a while back saying that due to the fact that neighbouring cities to yours are now operated by human controllers, you need to be "always on" to play the game. So this sounds about right.

NO!

It couldn't possibly actually be a game feature exactly as they're suggesting it is. No chance. Don't believe it.

Yup, it's true. The new Sim City is Sim City Online. I've been following the developments of the game and i'm out. They have taken Sim City and shoehorned social media into it and in order to do that they have made it online only. Your cities share a global marketplace with other cities that effect your prices. I don't want to have to be online for that kind of crap.

The single player mode is the online game but with a privacy filter so only you can play it online.

They say there are client performance reasons for it but i think they were told to design the game with social media at it's heart back when people gave a damn. Now they have an online leaderboard that requires always on DRM.

I rebought Sim City 4 in the Steam sales this christmas as a form of protest. Hah. Sad.

And it will be. They always are. Shittiest DRM idea ever - leads to people being more pissed, less likely to buy and more people determined to crack it. Thought they would have learned this from Ubisoft already.

I'm sure it will sell well just not to me. Same with the new Unchart... Tomb Raider game. I'm sure it will sell well and will be a decent game but it's not the game i'm interested in so i doubt i'll get it.

Problem with cracking the game is that this isn't a network-checking DRM system.

The simulation 'glass box' which tells each of the 200,000 sims what to do is run on the EA servers. Every now and then it checks back and asks what to do next or what to do in case of new buildings etc.

No connection and the simulation runs based on the previous data (ie no new buildings there). Typically 'cracking' the game is telling the local host to imagine there's a server connection and go from there. To 'crack' the game you will need to authentically simulate the interaction algorithms on a local machine (using how much CPU power?) in order to get a similar experience to a legit copy.

Step 1, figure out the game mechanic algorithms.

My qualm with the game... it's not like SimCity of old. You can't go back and reload a game from where it was 10 minutes ago. No 'experimenting' with a disaster to see the fun and reloading a pristine city. What happens, stays happens. It's a rogue-like in that respect.

Of course. But there's a different between you not buying a game because you don't want to play it, and not buying a game to make some sort of statement against what you believe to be a cynical attempt to insert DRM into a game through supposed game design when in fact it's about limiting piracy, and secondhand sales thereby increasing profits and the potential for data collection.

It's both from me, really. I don't like always online DRM and vote with my wallet in the matter. I also generally prefer SP to MP unless I'm shooting people in the face with needles. I've also seen the way EA is taking the Sims and I strongly suspect they'll see the last of my cash in that regard when they fuck up Sims 4 with this shit.

graysonavich wrote:
If the Sims 4 had properly implemented MP there wouldn't be a price tag high enough to stop me buying it!

They had an online MP version of it once upon a time. Sims prostitution rings and protection rackets sprang up - I didn't play it, but the stories that came out about it were entertaining reading, I'll give you that =D

My issue is I don't know that many people who play computer games and I'm ok with that. So I don't want to be forced to add friends. If it randomly matches me up with people then I'm going to end up with willyville and iTh1nkUSm3ll as neighbours who will more than likely be abandoned and left to rot after a few months. How will that affect my economy?

When EA get bored or decide I have to upgrade to a different version/game and turn off the servers where does that leave me? Stuffed without a game.

Add to that I will be running it on my laptop so that I can play a game if I'm away somewhere boring, so probably not online. I want the option to just quietly play a game in my own little world without having to be online or have to deal with other people.

I heard talk of the crack being designed to run the server on your machine and redirect the game to that. Guess it depends whether that is possible

Unless the game tanks hard i don't think the servers will be shutdown anytime soon or even after their customary two year cycle. Sim City is a flagship brand for EA so they'll keep it going as long as they can.

I'm sure the thought of buying new hats their cities when EA open a store for it will keep people involved for a long while too.

I doubt there will be a server based crack anytime soon either. I'm sure they moved a lot of the engine to the cloud for that reason.

I think it's more the case that the previous games have not required a permanent internet connection so the always online restriction being built into the game is being seen as a DRM/Monetization control move.

Aside from having a leaderboard and prices set by your neighbouring cities i can't see what is gained by removing fun features like natural disasters which don't fit the online move.